What Kind of Sod to Use in the Shade?

Types

• Sod is more expensive to purchase and install when creating a lawn compared with sowing grass seed or planting sprigs or plugs. Both cool- and warm-season grass species may be laid as sod. Examples of cool-season lawns are fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass. Warm-season types include St. Augustine, Bermuda, zoysia and centipede grasses. However, modern lawn grass cultivars may not be able to be grown from seed because they are complex hybrids. To maintain the genetic characteristics, hybrids are propagated as springs, plugs or cut sod pieces.
  
  

Need for Light

• The more sunlight a turf grass receives, the better. While some grasses may be touted and marketed as being shade-tolerant, dense shade or insufficient light levels prevents photosynthesis and grass plants decline. One or two hours of shade will have less negative growth effects on lawn grass sod that is laid and expected to grow where there's seven or eight hours of shade daily. Within all grass species, there may exist cultivars with a better performance in slightly shadier growing conditions, but there is no grass that will endure in dim light.
  
  

Shade Tolerances

• Of cool-season grasses, red fescue demonstrates the best tolerance to shadier conditions compared with other fescues, bluegrasses or ryegrasses. Red fescue sod will remain healthier longer after installation in bright shade compared with others. Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass are poor sod choices to lay in shade areas on your property. Warm-season grasses may seem to endure more shade because in the lower latitudes, sunlight intensity is stronger, even in shade. St. Augustine grass is more shade tolerant than Bermuda, zoysia and centipede grasses. However, dense St. Augustine grass sod will become thin even in partial shade after a couple years after installation.
  
  

Recommendations

• Contact your county cooperative extension and speak with a horticultural agent or turfgrass specialist. He can answer questions about appropriate grass sod types for use in your climate and soils in various amounts of shade. Some grass species or cultivars may be available to use that university research proves to perform well in slightly shadier conditions. If too much shade exists on your property, laying sod isn't a good economical choice. Consider alternative ground covers that naturally prosper in the lower-light conditions, such as ivy, liriope, bromeliads or hostas. Alternatively, mulch the area rather than sod it. Mulch looks attractive and tolerates heavy foot and vehicle traffic.